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Religions Of the Alliance
Senshi-Daishizen A Brief History, Senshi-Daishizen originated on Gaia (Earth) during the Invid Invasion and occupation of 2031, the beliefs themselves derive from several different religions and beliefs. The core beliefs are mostly comprised from elements of the late 20th century “New Age” neo paganism combined with the revised belief structure and code of conduct from bushido. The reason for this is due to the origins of Gaia freedom fighters during the Invid Occupation. Since most of the military was wiped out or elsewhere during this time it was left up to the civilian population to defend themselves and a large portion of those defenders were former members of the police, or they were various military reinactors, martial artists groups or other like minded people and families. It was the reinactors and the martial artist groups in North America, Europe and Asia who where the largest groups of resistance fighters in thier respective areas. A large percentage of these people believed in Neo-Paganism or various Asian religions and codes of conduct. As the smaller groups were rooted out of their bases by the Invid and forced to roam they began to find other resistance fighters and banded together for a common cause. As these groups grew they were able to set more permanent bases of operation which as time went on became small villages full of families whose members believed in a mix of Neo-Paganism and a Bushido like code of conduct known today as Senshi-Daishizen. The first recorded proof of this religion was in 2039 in a small militant village known as Daishizen’s Hope which was located in an isolated forest in south western China. The village there had built a small dojo type monastery in which they worshipped. Almost 80% of the population which totaled close to 2500 villagers followed the teachings of Jonathan McPherson who was considered a Sensei Priest of Senshi-Daishizen. Most followers of Senshi-Daishizen also known as Disciples worship the Collective Spirit of their home planet and will respect the planet itself along with its inhabitants. They generally practice great amounts of self discipline and live somewhat martial lifestyles in which they participate in various forms of martial arts and hand to hand combat at their religions Dojo Monasteries and in the privacy of their own homes or ships. Most followers feel it’s their duty to protect those who are weaker than themselves and will almost always fight for a cause they believe in until the bitter end. Disciples also feel that honor is everything and if you lose that honor you may be asked to leave the Dojo until you regain your honor at which point you must prove to the Sensei Priest that you have learned your lesson, most Disciples who have lost their honor almost never regain their place within the Dojo due to lack of trust. Mystisism, Life and Death, The beliefs of the followers of Senshi-Daishizen concerning the world and their roles in it are fairly simple and straight forward. They believe in no Deity only in the collective spirit of each inhabited planet within the universe, according to the beliefs every inhabited planet has a collective of spirits, these spirits come from the death of an inhabitant of the planet and at which point it will join the collective and add to the overall wealth of knowledge. When a spirit is ready to leave the collective it will select a being that has just been born furthering the cycle of collective knowledge due to the fact that the young being will experience a whole new life and learn many different skills during this time. It is said that some of the Warrior Priests and Warrior Monks can reach a state of enlightenment that can put them in touch with the Collective, granting them the ability to use the amassed knowledge of the inhabitants of that planet. Code of Conduct, 1. Rectitude or Justice Senshi-Daishizen refers not only to martial rectitude, but to personal rectitude: Rectitude or Justice, is the strongest virtue of Senshi-Daishizen. A well-known Warrior Priest by the name of Jen Lei defines it this way: ‘Rectitude is one’s power to decide upon a course of conduct in accordance with reason, without wavering; to die when to die is right, to strike when to strike is right.’ 2. Courage Senshi-Daishizen distinguishes between bravery and courage: Courage is worthy of being counted among virtues only if it’s exercised in the cause of Righteousness and Rectitude. In his Analects, Confucius says: ‘Perceiving what is right and doing it not reveals a lack of Courage.’ In short, ‘Courage is doing what is right.’ 3. Benevolence or Mercy A man invested with the power to command and the power to kill was expected to demonstrate equally extraordinary powers of benevolence and mercy: Love, nobility, affection for others, sympathy and pity, are traits of Benevolence, the highest attribute of the human soul. Both Confucius and Jonathan McPherson often said the highest requirement of a ruler of men is Benevolence. 4. Honesty and Sincerity True Disciples, according to author Mica Norson, disdained money, believing that “men must grudge money, for riches hinder wisdom.” Thus children of high-ranking Disciples are usually raised to believe that talking about money showed poor taste, and that ignorance of the value of different coins showed good breeding: Senshi-Daishizen beliefs encourage thrift, not for economical reasons so much as for the exercise of abstinence. Luxury was thought the greatest menace to manhood, and severe simplicity was required of the Disciple. 5. Honor Though Senshi-Daishizen deals with the profession of soldiering, it is equally concerned with non-martial behavior: The sense of Honor, a vivid consciousness of personal dignity and worth, characterized the follower of Senshi-Daishizen. Fear of disgrace hangs like a sword over the head of every member … To take offense at slight provocation was ridiculed as ‘short-tempered.’ As the popular adage puts it: ‘True patience means bearing the unbearable.’ 6. Loyalty Economic reality has dealt a blow to organizational loyalty throughout the galaxy. Nonetheless, true men remain loyal to those to whom they are indebted: Personal fidelity exists among all sorts of men: a gang of pickpockets swears allegiance to its leader. But only in the code of chivalrous Honor does Loyalty assume paramount importance. 7. Character and Self-Control Senshi-Daishizen teaches that men should behave according to an absolute moral standard, one that transcends logic. What’s right is right, and what’s wrong is wrong. The difference between good and bad and between right and wrong are givens, not arguments subject to discussion or justification, and a man should know the difference. Finally, it is a man’s obligation to teach his children moral standards through the model of his own behavior: The first objective of education in Senshi-Daishizen was to build up Character. The subtler faculties of prudence, intelligence, and dialectics were less important. Intellectual superiority was esteemed, but any follower is essentially a man of action.